Samantha: Here is the formal court summons, Mrs. Vance. Please sign the acknowledgment copy.
Victoria: Don't you dare sign that, Chloe! We can contest this in family court!
Samantha: You can certainly try, Mrs. Vance. But your daughter signed a prenup before the wedding ceremony.
Chloe froze, her sobbing stopping instantly as her eyes snapped toward her mother.
Chloe: The... the prenup?
Victoria: That prenup was for his motorcycle shop! He told us he had no major assets!
Samantha: Paragraph fourteen explicitly states that all intellectual property, patents, and corporate holdings acquired prior to or during the marriage remain sole personal property.
Daniel: My lawyer drafted that agreement very carefully, Victoria. You even called it 'worthless paper' when you signed it.
Victoria: You tricked us! You lied to us about your financial status!
Daniel: I never lied. I told you I ran a small tech firm and owned this garage. You assumed I was broke because I wore work boots instead of designer suits.
Chloe: Daniel, please... give me a second chance! I'll move into this garage with you! I'll wear old clothes!
Daniel: Don't embarrass yourself, Chloe. It's over.
Chloe looked around the dusty, dim garage, staring at the old tools hanging on the pegboards and the greasy parts on the floor.
Chloe: Why did you live like this if you had millions of dollars?!
Daniel: Because this garage belonged to my grandfather. He taught me how to work hard and build things with my own hands.
Victoria: Your grandfather was a greasy mechanic too?!
Daniel: My grandfather built a business from nothing, Victoria. Something you and your daughter have never done in your entire lives.
Samantha tapped her tablet screen, holding up a sleek digital document for Chloe to see.
Samantha: Furthermore, Mr. Sterling has authorized a one-time settlement offer of fifty thousand dollars if you sign the uncontested dissolution papers today.
Victoria: Fifty thousand dollars?! That won't even cover the wedding reception bills!
Samantha: Take it or leave it, ma'am. If we go to trial, the prenup ensures she gets zero.
Chloe looked at the diamond ring still sitting in the dirt near Daniel's boots.
Chloe: What about the ring? It cost thirty thousand dollars!
Daniel: You threw it away, Chloe. Like I said, keep it.
Chloe bent down slowly, her expensive dress dragging through the black oil stain as her shaking fingers scooped the ring off the concrete.
Chloe: You're really throwing our whole future away over a few angry words?
Daniel: Words show what's inside a person's heart, Chloe. You showed me yours.
A sleek black limousine pulled up to the garage entrance, its dark tinted windows reflecting the afternoon sun.
Samantha: Your car is here, Mr. Sterling. The press conference starts at four o'clock downtown.
Daniel: Thank you, Samantha. Let me just grab my jacket.
Daniel walked over to a locker, pulling out a sharp charcoal blazer and slipping it over his dark t-shirt.
Victoria: Daniel! Wait! We can talk about the settlement amount!
Daniel: Speak to my attorney, Victoria. She handles all my trash disposal.